Runners in first
Published on August 10, 2008 under Golden Baseball League (GBL)
St. George RoadRunners News Release
ST. GEORGE - When Jerry Turner joined the St. George Roadrunners last Friday, he knew the potential was there for the team to do some damage and contend for a championship.
Home cooking kept the Roadrunners on a roll Saturday night and put them into new territory.
Juan Melo hit an RBI double in a five-run seventh inning as St. George rallied for an 8-4 win over the Orange County Flyers before 1,338 fans at Bruce Hurst Field. With its eighth win in the last 10 games, the Roadrunners (14-10) moved into first place in the second-half standings in the Golden Baseball League's Southern Division by a half-game over Yuma.
"When it comes to comebacks, those are always uplifting," said Turner, who served as acting manager for the game. "The players brought more emotion and got more involved in the game."
The winning rally began when Greg Lemon led off with an infield single. Ryan Stevenson singled and Liu Rodriguez walked to load the bases and end the night for Orange County starter Patrick Durkin, who threw 112 pitches.
Wiki Gonzalez greeted reliever Mike Natale with a sacrifice fly to center that scored Lemon to tie the game at 4-4 and send Stevenson over to third.
From there, the Roadrunners added four more runs to take an 8-4 lead, highlighted by Melo's RBI double and a two-run single from Eddy Garabito.
"It's all about opportunities and Melo was really bearing down too much (in Orange County)," Turner said. "He was more relaxed, stayed back and drove the ball more, so that was good to see.
Orange County had trailed 3-0 early, but claimed the lead for the first time in the fifth inning off Roadrunner reliever Anthony Pluta when Travon Jackson singled, advanced on a passed ball and wild pitch, and scored on a David Bacani sacrifice fly.
The Flyers threatened to get more in the sixth, putting two runners on, but Pluta struck out Jackson to retire the side and keep the St. George deficit at a single run.
In the seventh, Pluta was pulled before he had a chance to get out of a two-on, one-out situation. Claudio Galva came on and caught David Bacani trying to score on a double-steal attempt, then walked David Keesee, the third free pass of the inning. But on a 2-2 pitch, Galva got Fernando Pacheco to look at a called third strike, finishing the Roadrunners' second straight escape act.
The Flyers got two runs back off Galva in the eighth. Terry Mermer had an RBI double - his first professional hit - and he scored on a Bacani single. The threat was silenced when the Roadrunner left-hander struck out Jermy Acey on three pitches to leave two runners stranded.
Melo came through with a two-out single in the bottom of the frame off Flyers closer Dane De La Rosa for a huge insurance run that scored Stevenson and pushed the Roadrunner lead to three.
Jason Norderum worked a scoreless ninth to wrap up the victory and earn his third save. John Segovia was called on in a spot-starting role for St. George, but couldn't get past the Flyers' order the second time around. With two out in the third, Acey banged out a three-run homer to tie the game at 3-3.
St. George continued the momentum of its 6-2 road trip by scoring twice in the first. Cody Nowlin drove in one run with a fielder's choice groundout and Garabito added an RBI single for the second tally.
Notes: Cory Snyder missed Saturday's game to attend a 50-year reunion of former San Francisco Giants players at AT&T Park. He will return to the dugout for Monday's game against the Flyers. ... Turner replaced pitching coach Stan Hilton, who was relieved of his duties by the team last week.
Golden Baseball League Stories from August 10, 2008
- Seven Run First Leads to Victory for Vipers - Calgary Vipers
- Outlaws And Silver Sox Split Saturday Twinbill - Chico Outlaws
- Back-to-back HR's power Cats over Armada 6-3 - Long Beach Armada
- Reno Splits DH with Chico - Reno Silver Sox
- Runners in first - St. George RoadRunners
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